Foundation garment



Jan. 24, 1961 B. MURDOCK FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed Au 6, 1959 mvismon. Benjomm Murdock BY I 1 I Amm United States Patent FOUNDATION GARMENT Benjamin Murdock, New York, N. assignor to Fortuna Foundations, Inc., New York, N.Y.

Filed Aug. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 832,041

3 Claims. (Cl. 128-524) This invention relates to undergarments and more particularly to foundation garments having a leg portion and an open crotch.

Generally, in foundation garments, especially those having a leg portion, satisfactory provisions are made in the garment to resist upward movement resulting from normal body movement. Where a crotch portion, having an opening, is added to the garment having a long leg portion, it has invariably been found that such opening is so confined as to be impractical for use by the wearer in the performance of normal functions without the necessity of entirely removing the garment from the body of the wearer. Where, however, the prime concern is to provide a crotch opening convenient for use in a garment, it has become necessary to yield to consideration of upward movement of the leg portion of the girdle. Thus, on the one hand, where emphasis is placed on resisting upward movement of the garment, the crotch opening will remain difiicult to open, while, on the other hand, if emphasis is placed on an easily opened crotch opening in a garment having a long leg portion, upward movement of the garment must be accepted.

It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a garment having a long leg section which will resist upward movement upon the body of the wearer. 1

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a crotch opening in a foundation garment which will be easily accessible and be easy to manipulate by the wearer.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a garment having a long leg section which will resist upward movement upon the body of the wearer, in combination with a crotch opening which will be easily opened by the wearer when so desired.

Still a further object of the present invention is the provision of a garment which will render removal of the same unnecessary when the wearer responds to natural body functional needs.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment which will be comfortable to the wearer, pleasing to the eye, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

In accomplishing the foregoing objects, there is provided, in a foundation garment, a plurality of panels in particular arrangement and relationship to each other to provide a simple, yet ingenious structure which will resist all upward movement of the garment due to body motion and still permit a crotch opening, incorporated therein, to be easily manipulated and opened by the wearer.

The above and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those versed in the art from the following description of a specific embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the drawing wherein like characters designate like parts in the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a panty girdle having long leg sections and a crotch opening; and

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the same garment.

Referring now to the drawing, the invention is illus- 'ice trated as embodied in a foundation garment 10 of the panty girdle type. The girdle 10, of two-way stretchable elastic material, includes a front section composed of a right panel 11 and a left panel 12 joined at the front center of the garment along vertical seam 13, the sides of said panels being joined to the single rear panel 21 at seams 22, 23 respectively.

In the particular embodiment of a panty girdle 10 shown panels 11 and 12 have outer portions 14, 15 and inner portions 16, 17 respectively being downwardly inclined from the front seam 13 and joined with rear panel 21 at side seams 22, 23 respectively. For purposes of augmented control an additional substantially oval panel 18 is superposed upon the inner face of right and left panel, the vertical axis of said oval panel 18 being coextensive with front seam 13.

The outer leg sections 18, 19 of the garment 10 are formed by the downward extension of the front 11, 12 and rear panels 21 respectively, with. side seams 22, 23 continuing downwardly joining said panels 11, 12, 21 in forming the outer portion of the leg sections 18, 19. A curved cutout along the inner edge of said downwardly extending front panels forming the outer portions of leg sections l8, 19 forms a substantially semi-oval recess 30. Similarly, the rear panel is formed with a semi-oval recess 40 in its lower edge extending upwardly from the bottom edge thereof substantially conforming the shape, size, and location to the similar recess 30 in the front of the garment.

The inner portions of the leg sections are each composed of two panels, a first panel 41, 42 on each of the right and left leg sections, composed of fabric having a vertical stretch and stitched to the inner side edges of the front 11, 12 and rear panel 21 to complete the lower part 7 of each of the leg sections 18, 19, the bottom edge thereof coextensive with the bottom edge of said front and rear panels and forming the bottom edge 43, 43 of the garment.

A second panel '45, 46 is likewise seamed along its bottom edge to the upper edge 44 of the first panel 41, 42 substantially in the medial section of the leg section 18, 19, the side edges of said panel 45, 46 being seamed along the side edges of first panels 11, 12 and rear panels 21 in similar fashion to leg panels 41, 42.

The top edge of panel 45 of the left leg section 18 terminates generally in the vertical center line of the garment, said edge 50 entirely free of attachment to the garment. Likewise, top edge 47 of panel 46, also free of any attachment to the garment, is in overlapping relationship to panel 45 generally in the region of the crotch recess 40 and extends slightly to the opposite leg section or, as shown in the embodiment of this invention, to the left of the vertical center line of the garment.

In normal wear, panels 41, 42 of vertical stretch fabric,

properly position and anchor the garment to the thighs irrespective of any body movement. With panel 46 overlapping panel 45 at point 47, a slit is maintained in closed position at all times except when purposely opened. When the wearer so desires, the horizontal stretch of panels 45, '46 permits edge 47 to be easily pulled horizontally so as to provide an elongated opening between the leg sections permitting full freedom for performance of natural functions.

While a specific embodiment has herein been described, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein, and as so changed, a modified structure would still fall within the ambit of this invention.

I claim:

1. A foundation garment comprising a front and rear section of two-way stretch elastic fabric, said sections extending downwardly at the lower ends thereof to form relatively elongated leg sections adapted to engage the front, back and outer side of each thigh, a first lower inside leg panel secured to the opposite edges of the lower portion of each of the leg sections, and a second upper inside leg panel at each leg section being secured at the bottom edge thereof to said lower inside panel .at the upper edge thereof and securedalong the side edges thereof to the inner edges of said front and rear sections at the lower part thereof, said lower and ,upper inner leg panels of eachleg section adapted to engage the inner side of each thigh; said upper inside leg panel of one leg section extending from a point medially the length of the leg section and terminating generally at the vertical center line of the garment, said upper inside leg panel of the opposing leg section extending from a point medially the length of the leg section terminating generally beyond the vertical center line of the garment to overlap the upper edge of the upper inside leg panel of the opposing leg section to form an overlapping openable slit in the crotch area of the garment.

2. A foundation garment according to claim 1 wherein the lower inside leg panel is of vertical stretch elastic fabric, and the upper inside leg panel is of horizontal stretch elastic fabric.

3. A foundation garment comprising a front section and a rear section of tWo-way'stretch elastic fabric, said front section composed of a plurality of panels joined along the longitudinal edges thereof to form a central vertical seam, said front section joined to said rear section along the side edges thereof whereby a body encircling garment is formed; a substantially oval panel superposed upon the inner face of said front panel, the vertical axis of said oval panel being coextensive with said vertical front seam, said front and rear sections extending downwardly at the lower ends thereof to form relatively elongated leg sections adapted to engage the front, back and outer sides of each thigh, a lower inside leg panel of vertical stretch elastic fabric stitched along the side edges thereof to the inner side edges of said front and rear panels at each leg section thereof, the bottom edges of saidlo-wer insidelegpanels being coextensive with said lower edges :of'said front and rear sections to form the lower edges of said garment, the upper edges of said lower inside leg panels terminatingat a medial point in the leg sections and stitched to an upper inside leg panel at each leg section thereof, said upper inside leg panels being stitched to the inside edges of the front and rear panels in the upper region of said leg sections, the upper edges of said upper inside leg panels being free of attachment of said garment, the upper edge of one upper inside leg panel terminating generally at the vertical center line of the garment, while the upper edge of said upper inside leg panelof the opposing leg section being in overlapping relationship to said first upper inside leg panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,224,684 Jacobs Dec. 10, 1940 2,464,121 Diebold Mar. 8, 1949 2,529,115 Thalman Nov. 7, 1950 2,875,763 'Marchisella Mar. 3, 1959 in. m. HA: 

